Elizabeth man sentenced to 14 years for running over police officer with car

ELIZABETH — A city man has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison for knocking over a police officer with his car following a routine traffic stop, running over the officer’s leg, and then leading other officers on a high-speed chase in 2011.

Hakeem Allen, 27, formerly of Newark, received consecutive seven-year sentences from state Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Walsh on charges of second-degree aggravated assault on a police officer and second-degree eluding police, according to Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park.

One of the two seven-year terms includes a provision that at least 85 percent of the sentence must be served before the possibility of parole.

According to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Jill O’Malley, who prosecuted the case, Allen was pulled over for a minor motor vehicle violation on Jan. 9, 2011 along North Broad Street in Elizabeth.

After processing Allen’s identifying documents, the two police officers who initiated the traffic stop discovered that he had an outstanding warrant and that his driver’s license was suspended, O’Malley said.

When the officers asked Allen to exit his vehicle, he sped off, knocking over one of the officers and running over his leg.

A high-speed chase through about two-miles of residential streets in Elizabeth followed, and Allen managed to escape when two pursuing patrol cars lost sight of him.

The injured police officer was treated at a local hospital and released, and Allen’s vehicle, which had been rented by his then-girlfriend, was later found abandoned in Hillside.

A little more than a week after the traffic stop, on Jan. 17, 2011, police responding to a report of three people suffering from gunshot wounds outside an Elizabeth residence discovered that Allen was among them, O’Malley said. He was subsequently arrested.

In December 2013, Allen, who had three prior convictions on drug-related offenses out of Union County, was found guilty following a two-week trial and two days of jury deliberation.